Taku tae akamau i tua

Tu wuri Tioti te toa maroro,

Na toa ’u no te pereue n’i,

Na tari o te kainga n’i.

Tere te witi-witi, te kapu-kapu,

Yaea ki te tae kau roroa.

 

E mate no Ngake ma Yato

Ko te puta i te maroro.

Koa worerua mai te moana,

Koa yayakina te marae –

Ko Tioti te angai i te w’i tangata.

 

When I go to sea,

I, George, the champion netter,

I, the champion of the army coat,

All the people follow me.

The fish, great and small, fly from me.

 

I conquer the Leeward and Windward Villagers

In catching the flying-fish.

All know of me, from the creatures in the sea

To the spirits in the burial grounds.

I am George who feeds the villages.

from ‘Mako Wahinganga no Tihoti’ (George’s flying-fish chant)